Project Natal, A new interface from Microsoft

Project Natal, A new interface from Microsoft

Microsoft

The biggest changes in video games have always come on the screen: Better graphics, bigger worlds, more immersive story. Next year Microsoft is hoping to revolutionize the other side of the equation: the controller. Specifically, it's getting rid of it. "Project Natal," as the interface Microsoft unveiled at the E3 conference last summer is code-named, gets rid of the traditional buttons, thumb sticks and motion-sensing wands. Instead, it uses a camera and microphone to scan players' movements and voices. Owners of Microsoft's Xbox 360 video game console will be able to manipulate images with the swipe of a hand, punch an enemy with a real fist or have a conversation with a character on screen. If it works as seamlessly as the demos -- always a big if, especially when it comes to Microsoft -- Natal could make the Xbox easy for anybody with a hand or mouth to use and better position Microsoft to dominate the digital living room. -- Ben Fritz

The biggest changes in video games have always come on the screen: Better graphics, bigger worlds, more immersive story. Next year Microsoft is hoping to revolutionize the other side of the equation: the controller. Specifically, it's getting rid of it. "Project Natal," as the interface Microsoft unveiled at the E3 conference last summer is code-named, gets rid of the traditional buttons, thumb sticks and motion-sensing wands. Instead, it uses a camera and microphone to scan players' movements and voices. Owners of Microsoft's Xbox 360 video game console will be able to manipulate images with the swipe of a hand, punch an enemy with a real fist or have a conversation with a character on screen. If it works as seamlessly as the demos -- always a big if, especially when it comes to Microsoft -- Natal could make the Xbox easy for anybody with a hand or mouth to use and better position Microsoft to dominate the digital living room. -- Ben Fritz (Microsoft)

The biggest changes in video games have always come on the screen: Better graphics, bigger worlds, more immersive story. Next year Microsoft is hoping to revolutionize the other side of the equation: the controller. Specifically, it's getting rid of it. "Project Natal," as the interface Microsoft unveiled at the E3 conference last summer is code-named, gets rid of the traditional buttons, thumb sticks and motion-sensing wands. Instead, it uses a camera and microphone to scan players' movements and voices. Owners of Microsoft's Xbox 360 video game console will be able to manipulate images with the swipe of a hand, punch an enemy with a real fist or have a conversation with a character on screen. If it works as seamlessly as the demos -- always a big if, especially when it comes to Microsoft -- Natal could make the Xbox easy for anybody with a hand or mouth to use and better position Microsoft to dominate the digital living room. -- Ben Fritz